Many products, especially food products in particular, are provided in sealed containers to prevent spoilage or contamination. In addition, it is common for manufacturers to sell food products frozen or refrigerated within microwavable or oven-safe containers, such that the food may be heated in the container just prior to being eaten. These refrigerated or frozen food products are especially desirable to consumers because they have a reduced potential for spoilage and may be quickly prepared.
Such heatable containers for frozen or refrigerated food products are sealed after filling in order to prevent contamination during shipping and handling. When food is heated, water is generally emitted in the form of steam. This steam builds within food containers and can help to rapidly thaw and cook the packaged food. If the package does not allow for at least some escape of steam during cooking, a high steam pressure can build up within the container. Such pressures can explode the container. As a result, partial venting of heated food product containers is often recommended.
One example of a partially vented food product container is provided by conventional frozen dinners. These dinners are produced and sold within containers comprised of a thin polymer film sealed over a microwavable or oven-safe bowl or tray. Prior to heating, consumers are instructed to place small cuts in the polymer film or to peel back a corner of the film, to moderately vent the steam and prevent potentially dangerous high steam pressures. Although vented by the small cuts or peeled-back portion, the polymer film retains some steam within the container to more rapidly cook the dinner.
As conventional “frozen dinner” type designs are used more frequently, it has become evident such designs inherently include a number of drawbacks. For example, they are costly to produce and fail to adequately harness steam during the initial cooking cycles, thereby requiring an extended cooking time and potentially resulting in a partially cooked food product. Further, should a consumer provide less than adequately sized cuts in the polymer film prior to cooking, steam may not be properly vented. As a result, steam remaining in the container may overcook the food product and/or cause the food product to become soggy, which in many cases is undesirable. To alleviate the above problems and produce crisp food products, it is desirable to release the steam once its initial thawing and cooking effects have been realized.
It is further desirable to package foods within tubular paperboard containers that may optionally include laminates such as kraft or recycled paper, foil and/or polymer plys, and exterior label layers. Such tubular containers provide a cost effective, re-closable, and easily storable alternative to the relatively expensive, polymer based, frozen-dinner type bowls discussed above.
Accordingly, it is desirable to produce an improved tubular food product container that is readily closable so as to preserve the food from spoilage and encourage accelerated cooking. It is further desirable, however, for the container to readily vent steam following initial cooking cycles, thereby providing a crispier, more desirable food product.